Efforts to decriminalize marijuana in San Marcos underway

San Marcans might see a measure on the November poll aiming to vary marijuana enforcement within the metropolis. 

Mano Amiga, a grassroots immigration and authorized reform group, has begun gathering signatures to put an initiative on the poll that may set up an ordinance eliminating low-level marijuana enforcement in San Marcos. 

“Having a cost for possession of marijuana in your document has the potential to negatively influence an individual’s life in so some ways,” Mano Amiga Communications Director Sam Benavides mentioned. “It may be discovered by employers, landlords, social companies, and for college kids, it could even influence your monetary support. Our neighbors and our friends mustn’t have their lives so needlessly disrupted over one thing that over half the states in our nation have already decriminalized.”

In accordance with the ordinance language, citations and arrests for misdemeanor possession of marijuana would finish if the voters accredited the proposition. San Marcos police, nonetheless, might cite a person or make an arrest for Class A or Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana if it’s part of an investigation involving a felony-level narcotics case or the investigation of a violent felony. 

Moreover, if the ordinance is handed, citations for possession of drug residue or drug paraphernalia shouldn’t be issued, a prohibition towards metropolis funds or personnel to conduct THC focus testing could be established, and there would even be a prohibition towards metropolis police utilizing the odor of marijuana or hemp as a possible trigger for search or seizure. 

To be able to get the measure positioned on the poll, Mano Amiga and supporters want to assemble signatures from 10% of the voting inhabitants — roughly 4,400 registered voters to signal a petition. Benavides mentioned over 1,500 signatures have been gathered with greater than 400 coming from Texas State College throughout its first day of in-person studying on Monday. 

Efforts to assemble signatures continued Tuesday with a press convention at Texas State. With a crowd gathered across the Combating Stallions statue on the quad, Mike Siegel, Political Director of Floor Recreation Texas — a corporation that goals to “set up and mobilize voters community-by neighborhood,” mentioned marijuana reform is extraordinarily widespread in Texas.

“Eighty-seven p.c of Texans assist some type of decriminalization,” Siegel mentioned. “That is one thing that’s widespread amongst Democrats and Republicans. And for some cause there’s a political bloc that forestalls us from preserving folks out of jail, letting folks transfer on with their lives even when they determine to smoke some marijuana. So that is us taking widespread sense motion on the native stage.”

“There’s no cause a marijuana ticket or arrest ought to result in somebody dropping their job, dropping a house, dropping any form of alternative even being incarcerated if a warrant is issued,” Siegel added. “There’s no cause that ought to occur and this reform will maintain folks out of the legal justice system, and can save scarce public {dollars} for actual public points.” 

Above, Hays County Choose Ruben Becerra indicators a petition aiming to vary marijuana enforcement within the Metropolis of San Marcos, following a press convention held at Texas State College on Tuesday. Every day Report picture by Nick Castillo

In accordance with the Hays County Jail Dashboard, 233 arrests have been made between Oct. 29, 2020 and Oct. 20, 2021 for possession of marijuana. 

Texas regulation makes leisure use of hashish unlawful within the state. Hays County District Lawyer Wes Mau mentioned he understands efforts in San Marcos have been described as decriminalization as a result of the town does not have the authority to amend state regulation. He mentioned that even for the state legislature, which is the one physique that may determine to make marijuana possession authorized, it’s extra sophisticated than saying, “it’s authorized now.” 

“I’d advocate to these the Colorado Division of Prison Justice’s Workplace of Analysis and Statistics’ ‘Impacts on Marijuana Legalization in Colorado’ report, which presents information on marijuana-related matters together with crime, impaired driving, hospitalizations, ER visits, utilization charges, results on youth, and extra,” Mau mentioned in an e mail. “Any ‘reform efforts’ that overlook these points could be shortsighted.”

Signatures to have marijuana reform positioned on the November poll are wanted by Might, Benavides mentioned. She highlighted Mano Amiga’s efforts to go the town’s Cite and Launch ordinance — which goals to cut back the quantity of arrests made for qualifying low-level, nonviolent offenses equivalent to possession of small portions of marijuana — because the group’s efforts to decriminalize marijuana continues. 

“Collectively, as a neighborhood, we’ve got the ability to be sure that nobody in our neighborhood has to face legal prices for possession of marijuana,” Benavides mentioned. “However it’s going to need to take each single considered one of us right here to make it occur. I would like everybody right here to expertise the identical sense of delight that I felt after we acquired the state’s first Cite and Launch ordinance handed.”